Sunday, March 25, 2012

The "H" Project - More Pinterest Inspiration

Project EH.

Define Project Eh? Project Eh is one that you think may be a fail, then you think may be not too bad. But it certainly isn't great. But I don't want to put any more work in it - for now. Would I buy it if I saw it in a store? Certainly not. But I can't really say it is a failure yet. I'm just going to put it somewhere where I can see it occasionally and think about it.

I just DO NOT LIKE IT when something that seems like it should be easy turns into something not so easy. And usually, this happens because I can't leave well enough alone, or don't completely read the tutorial, or don't read the tutorial at all, or think I can skip a step, or combine two different ideas.......you know. At least I think you know. Maybe I'm the only one who does this stuff.

I have these cardboard letters. The kind you buy at any craft store. The kind you can turn into anything you want. I have 3 of them and have had them for several years. I've never decided what exactly I want to do with these letters, so they sit in a bag in my basement. Every time I see them I have to wonder why I haven't bothered to commit to a treatment for the letters. Probably because I didn't know what I would do with them if they were "fixed."

Because this is my self-proclaimed "poop or get off the pot" week regarding my Pinterest inspirations I thought maybe I would do the same with at least one of my letters.

I think that the pin I had on this said something like "make design from glue and paint everything one color. Lesson #1 - go to the actual tutorial and find out how it is actually done. This is not glue. This is puffy paint. Trust me you cannot get this look with glue - I tried. The real way you do it is puffy paint. Genius. I WILL do this project as directed soon. I just need to get puffy paint.

UPDATE NOTE: This is NOT done with Elmers glue. It is Aleene's Tacky Glue. It leaves a thicker more solid design. I have heard from people who tried this with Elmers. Once again....it will NOT work with Elmers glue.

This is the original tutorial for The Art Club's project. I encourage you to check out this post. There are some steps in this tutorial that I did not do. They add the real interest to this picture. There are several more examples here. They were all done by children. They are fab. I would encourage you to make some with your kids or grandkids. Keep in mind though that glue has to dry. That takes longer than you might imagine.

Now to what I did.

I used the first picture as inspiration for my design and drew the glue
onto my letter in the shape that I wanted. You have to be careful and
only do the horizontal surfaces - the glue will drip if you are trying
to do the sides of the letter at the same time as the front. Believe me
- I know. It took like three days to get this letter "painted" and
dried.

Here is where the battery on my camera went out. Put on your imagination hat......

Cut strips of foil about 1/2 inch wider than the sides of the letter and glue them to the sides of the letter with ModgePodge.

Rub gently with a paper towel or soft cloth to work the foil over and around the pattern of the dried glue.

Cut out the exact shape of the letter. I used a Q-tip to score around the letter and then cut on the inside edge of the scored line.

Paint the back of the cut-out with Mod Podge and lay it over the front of the letter. Just as you rubbed sides, rub the top foil until the glue pattern shows through as desired. Be gentle, the foil can tear.

Wipe down any places where the Mod Podge is showing on the foil with a slightly damp cloth. Even though it dries clear, it could possibly alter the way the antique medium - whatever that might be - adheres to the surface. You want that to be the same over the whole piece.

Let it dry for a while.

Cover entire surface with black shoe polish. Let sit for a minute and wipe away excess with a soft cloth. Read the other tutorials carefully here - I really didn't like how mine turned out and it was not drying very well. I ended up wiping off almost all traces of the black shoe polish.

When you have the look you like, cover entire piece with Mod Podge. That final coat actually takes away the whole "this is a foil letter" look.

What do you think? Should I scrap it. Cut bait? I was thinking I might try some sort of zinc finish.

Any ideas out there?

It is on the shelf for now. Waiting for a better idea.

Make something wonderful today!

Karen

PS I did get some great projects done this week. Check them out here, here and here!
Partying with:

I like it! Get some Rub n Buff from the craft store and try that with it. It comes in various antique finishes and rubs on with a cloth so you can really age it nicely. But, it doesn't look bad shiny either! just a taste thing!Lorraine

I love your letter!! Did you use the dull side or the shiny side of the foil? I let the kids choose- the look it different depending on which side of the foil you use. (And adding more patterns on the surface the way we did meant more places for the shoe polish to stick.)

You can also add another layer of shoe polish, and then only buff lightly to leave more of the patina.

Okay, I was looking at your letter again. Have you thought about just doing some simple lines on the inside of your petals? You don't have to go crazy with all sorts of patterns like we did on our owls- maybe the same lines/pattern in all the petals to create texture, but unity too. Just a thought! :D

Candise, you are a no reply blogger so here is the answer to your question. I used Tacky Glue for the pattern - apparently it sets up better than the others like Elmers. I used ModPodge to attach the foil to the letter.

I dont really know what a no reply blogger is but thank you so much for your response! I am trying this this week! I have used tagboard to cut out the shape of my designs and have drawn all the details. Next I will use tacky glue and foil and hope for the best! What do you think about using caulk in a caulking gun for the design. Just a thought...it may give more height to the design....?

Hi Candise. A no-reply blogger is one who has no-reply as their email address in the email I receive with your comment in it. I tried to look up how you change this but I didn't come up with an answer. Do you have your settings so that you receive your comments in email? If not that might be your answer to change that. Anyway, if I get your email instead of no-reply, I can email you back with as much information as you need. I hope your project turns out well! Using caulk is something to think about - but I think it might be a little difficult to manipulate. You could try putting some on a test piece of cardboard and seeing how hard it gets. You want the glue (or caulk) to get really solid so it doesn't move around under the foil. Would love for you to send me a picture when you get finished.

Well I have just spent an hour looking through your blog (and I love it) for this little letter H! Of course I found it on Pinterest and had to come see how you made it. My kids actually did a project just like this when they were kids in art in elementary school, but I had forgotten all about it. I have a tip for you. If you go to the HVAC dept at your local home improvement store they have foil tape. I have been using it for really cool projects and as I read this I thought hey, that could work for it too (and you can paint on it)! Love it, now I need to make one for me, and no I would change a thing.

I think what you've done is awesome!!! Don't change it, but I'm a novice so what do I know LOLBy the way, what is the font you are using for your comments??? I LOVE the font & where would I find it??? Keep the pretty stuff coming :)

I haven't read other comments so this may have been suggested already, but it would look gorgeous spray painted white and antiqued! I'm on my phone and it actually looked white at first. Wasn't until the second photo that I realized t was silver. I've been wanting to try both of these! And this is not to say yours look less than fabulous either ;)

SPclothing1 - you are a non reply blogger so I can't answer your question!!!! Can't locate you through your profile either so I'm checking in here with the answer hoping you might check back. You could try painting. If you use paint, you should probably use puffy paint for the shapes. I'm not sure how the glue would paint up.If I were doing it I would use gold leaf - which I think would be gorgeous. The traditional under layer for gold leaf is red paint. The under layer is important with leafing because you may not get 100% coverage and you want something to show through that enhances the piece rather than makes you ask "why didn't they cover that space?"

Just stumbled on your blog and LOVE everything. I'm a 5th grade teacher and have done this type of project with kids. We used regular elmers glue, but glued string along the lines (they wrote their names). Then layed the foil on top, pressing around the letters. Black shoe polish and then used fine steel wool to rub it off and get the antique look.

Found you through Pinterest... fun idea! I set aside my hatred of hot glue for the cause of scientific discovery, and tried it instead of the tacky glue on a scrap of cardboard. It works! The hot glue makes much thicker lines, so I did get a lot of wrinkling with the foil around the shapes, but it definitely works.

I love how your letter came out, but since it isn't your favorite, might I suggest painting all over it with gold acrylic paint, then wiping most of it off before it dries? And repeating until you like how it looks. Or maybe some other color of acrylic paint... it will dry a lot faster than the shoe polish, and you will get added texture from the brushing and wiping.

Karen - Love this!!Also, wanted to say that I'm glad you responded to the "non reply bloggers" on this post, so we could see the answers to the questions. I recommend posting the answers on here so everyone can benefit, because i had most of the same questions that others asked. If you email them, then we don't get to see the answers.

Just tried this with a cardboard letter I got from a craft store. Turned out very cool. I used puffy paint, cheap aluminum foil & Annie Sloan Dark Wax because I didn't have shoe polish like I thought I did! I used a really soft cloth to blot the whole thing and it turned out amazing! Thanks for this awesome idea!

I know this is old...but I wanted to comment the same thing...maybe for other bloggers out there. Never! Just reply to their question personally...reply right here! Nothing is more annoying then reading a bunch of unanswered questions!

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This blog is about stuff I make, stuff I paint, stuff I do, and cake. I like cake. I've pretty much been a maker of stuff all my life. I often wonder if any of the prized, hand-crafted, gifts I gave my friends while I was growing up still exist. Maybe in a museum somewhere? If only I'd had a blog back then...

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